Guernsey is already well on the way to introducing a funds
regime which is compliant with the EU's proposed Alternative
Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).

The final Level 2 rules for the detailed
implementation of AIFMD were published at the end of last year.

However, Guernsey has already begun drafting new regulations to
create a regime which is compliant with the AIFMD rules. It is
anticipated to be in place from as early as July 2013, which is the
deadline for the AIFMD rules to be transposed into local law.

Guernsey will offer two parallel regulatory regimes for
investment funds as the way to best meet client needs going
forward. The Island will introduce a regime which is fully AIFMD
compliant, while also maintaining the existing regulations for
those investors and managers not requiring an AIFMD fund.

"Guernsey is very well positioned regarding AIFMD,"
said Fiona Le Poidevin, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance - the
promotional agency for the Island's finance industry.

"Guernsey has been fully engaged with developments
regarding AIFMD and so we are well advanced with our preparations.
A tripartite working group comprising representatives from
government, industry and the financial services regulator has been
meeting regularly to understand precisely the work we need to
undertake. Now the final Level 2 rules have been made public we can
continue with drafting our new regulations which will create a
regime which is fully AIFMD compliant.

"Our preparations and the nature of Guernsey fund
regulation mean that we are very well placed to be able to
introduce this new regime as early as July 2013. This will enable
distribution of our products into countries that align their
private placement rules with AIFMD. In addition, we will be
applying for our regime to receive third country passporting status
as soon as that option becomes available, which is expected to be
July 2015.

"The bottom line is that Guernsey is well prepared for
AIFMD and we believe that our approach means that managers will
continue to use the Island because we will continue to offer the
very same services - to both EU and non-EU investors and managers -
that have made us a leading international funds centre."

Guernsey had already announced at the start of November that it
was intending to operate a full AIFMD equivalent regime for those
EU investors and managers who are obliged to take this route or any
investors or managers who choose this as their preferred
option.

It was also announced at the same time that for non-EU investors
and managers, investing in the EU and globally, there will remain a
parallel regime with its own appropriate set of regulations. This
will also be available to EU investors and managers who are able to
take advantage of national private placement regimes, which
continue until at least 2018, or those who fall outside the scope
of AIFMD.

He said: "As a non-EU jurisdiction with close proximity and
business ties to the EU, it is essential that we seek to comply
with AIFMD for those clients obliged to or who wish to take
advantage of the regime in the coming years. However, we must
recognise that we have clients whose business does not touch the EU
at all in terms of management or marketing of funds and it is
important that these clients have the choice to elect to fall under
the AIFMD regime or remain outside, as is their right. In being
able to offer both EU and non-EU solutions from one location,
Guernsey will be ideally placed to serve the global fund
industry."

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